*** ILLINOIS STATE TROOPER DOWN ***
Illinois State police, Calumet Police, Orland Hills Police, Tinley Park and other police agencies responded about 6:40 p.m. Monday to a shots fired call, followed by a report that an Illinois State Trooper was down.

The offender is described as a male/black, age 35, 5’10” 180, clean shaven, wearing a skull cap, wearing dark jeans and a reflective construction vest or jacket. Police were not certain whether the offender was still armed.

The suspect was at large, and possibly immediately went northbound on Halsted Avenue from Interstate 80 (I-80/I-294). A police helicopter was also searching the area for the offender. Some of the search focused on the large FedEx facility in the area.

Initially, there was no confirmation whether the state trooper was suffering a gunshot wound or was down for another reason. The trooper was injured in the neck, but initially it was unknown whether he was struck by a bullet or injured by a different mechanism or object. Later, the Illinois State Police confirmed that several shots were fired, but that the trooper was not shot.

A firearm was recovered at the scene, according to Illinois State Police.

Westbound I-80 was backed up from Halsted Avenue. The interchange is near Homewood, Harvey, South Holland, East Hazel Crest, and Thornton.

The Illinois State Police urge anyone with information to call 630-241-6800, Ext. 5028.

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Friday Night - Mostly cloudy with chance of showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s in the suburbs... but in the upper 60s downtown. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.